26 Degrees in the Shade . . .

Opening Your Bar In Spain All Year Around

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I often get asked by people who are thinking about buying a bar restaurant in Spain:

“Would we be tied to working all year round?”

Very few bars or restaurants in Spain are open all year round. You have to take into consideration that there is significant tourist trade and this last about 6 months of the year, peaking in July and August.

If you work hard and efficiently during the summer period you then have another 3 months where trade is still pretty good (March, April, November) and you probably can afford to close for winter.

Most businesses are quiet for the three winter months (Dec, Jan, Feb) so you can afford to close for these winter months if you so choose. The exception to this, is where a bar has regular organized events to keep the customers coming in even throughout the winter (pool competitions, Karaoke etc.)

You also need to take into consideration any other income you may have. Most people with bar income operate their businesses for about 9 months a year and then enjoy life relaxing during the 3 winter months.

We work 11 months per year taking a month off for Christmas. We can do this because we have all year round trade due to the location of our bar and restaurant.

Health Care In Spain

There is a state health system in Spain, which is available free of charge to people who have paid the required amount of social security throughout their working lives.

Anybody can go to their local health care centre “Ambulatorio” and get minor treatment, so long as they can produce a Social Security card from an EU country.

Health care centres serving large towns tend to be very big and will have a lot of staff. You can either make an appointment for one or two days ahead or you can, depending on the time you go and how many other people are waiting, take a number and sit and wait to see a doctor.

If you are a minor emergency case, you will be seen as soon as you arrive. Serious emergency cases are dealt with in the Emergency department “Urgencias” of the local hospital.

Whilst the state system is not bad, if you want to be seen quickly and have more privacy or should you need to stay in a hospital, then you need to take out a private medical insurance.

A lot of our friends have private medical insurance, whilst others prefer to save the money and spend it on a new car or whatever. My advice would be to take out medical insurance cover.